Most business owners invest their time rather than money into social media. A study shows that businesses spend $10k or less on social media per year. Although most social media is free, it’s important to still reserve a percentage of your marketing budget for social media. Review your marketing plan and budget, and integrate your social media plan into it.

Who is going to implement your social media plan?

Before you decide to be the one implementing your small business’s social media plan, ask yourself how many free hours you have on a weekly basis. You also need to be aware that social media is one of the biggest time-sinks ever invented. It can be easy to get hooked on social media and spend too much of the time you don’t have. Think seriously about your time commitments and decide whether or not you want to take on the task of putting your social media plan into action.

Once you’ve answered these five questions, you will be ready to start figuring out how to use social media to accomplish the goals you’ve set for your social media plan.